The Dolomites: 6-Day Itinerary & Planning Guide

Quick answer: Five summer days in the Dolomites from a Val Gardena base: Seceda’s ridgeline and Alpe di Siusi, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo loop, dawn at Lago di Braies with an afternoon in Cortina, and the Val di Funes postcard to finish.

Day 1 — Bolzano to Val Gardena

Arrive via Bolzano — if you have a spare hour, the Archaeology Museum’s star resident is Ötzi the Iceman (about €13). Then climb by car or bus into Val Gardena and settle into Ortisei, the best all-around base: pedestrianized center, wood-carving workshops and lifts rising straight out of town. Stretch your legs on the riverside Luis Trenker promenade, then eat like a local: canederli (speck bread dumplings) and a glass of Lagrein. Insider: if you’re staying three days or more, price out the Val Gardena lift card — individual cable-car rides add up fast in these valleys.

Day 2 — Seceda & Alpe di Siusi

Ride the Ortisei–Furnes–Seceda cable car (about €40–45 return) and step onto the most photographed ridgeline in the Alps — the grass tilts up and simply falls away into the Odle spires. Walk the crest, then descend past the Troier hut toward Col Raiser or ride back down. Come late afternoon, switch valleys for golden hour on Alpe di Siusi, Europe’s largest high-alpine meadow — private cars are banned roughly 9am–5pm, so use the Seiser Alm cable car from Siusi (about €20). Huts up here pour excellent après: order kaiserschmarrn and watch the Sassolungo catch fire at sunset.

Day 3 — Tre Cime di Lavaredo

The big one: Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Drive about two hours east and take the toll road up to Rifugio Auronzo (about €30–40 per car; the lot fills early — arrive before 9am or book the shuttle). The classic loop around the three great north faces runs about 10km / 3–4 hours, moderate and endlessly spectacular, past WWI positions and the chapel at Dreizinnenhütte. The mandatory pause is a cappuccino on the Rifugio Locatelli terrace, staring straight at the towers. Bring layers — you’re near 2,400 meters and the weather flips fast even in August.

Day 4 — Lago di Braies & Cortina

Set the alarm: Lago di Braies at dawn is glass-calm and nearly empty, and by 9am it’s a queue. Summer access is regulated — reserve parking or the shuttle online — and the wooden rowboats (about €35–40 an hour) on that milky emerald water are worth every cent. Spend the afternoon in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the glamorous Olympic town: a passeggiata down Corso Italia, or the Faloria cable car for a balcony over the valley. Drive home over Passo Falzarego, where the Lagazuoi cable car and WWI tunnel galleries make a sobering, spectacular detour if daylight allows.

Day 5 — Val di Funes Farewell

Save the gentlest postcard for last: Val di Funes, about 45 minutes from Val Gardena. The tiny church of Santa Maddalena set against the sawtooth Odle wall is the Dolomites’ defining image — walk the easy Panoramaweg loop (1–2 hours) between the classic viewpoints, no lifts or fees required, just cowbells. Then book a table at a farmhouse hut for the farewell lunch: speck, mountain cheese, schüttelbrot crispbread and warm apple strudel with cream. Roll back down to Bolzano in the afternoon — and if the trip has one lesson, it’s that five days here only scratches the pale-pink surface; the passes will still be here next summer.